BELAGAVI: In a significant development, Union minister of state and Member of Parliament, Goa (North), Shripad Naik, on Tuesday spoke in favour of an amicable settlement of the dispute over sharing water of the river Mahadayi on humanitarian grounds.
He told the media here the dispute should be resolved either in the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal or outside through negotiations in order to ensure that people get adequate quantity of drinking water. While stating that there was no need to drag the Mahadayi water row to extreme levels, he suggested that both riparian states should jointly find a solution for sharing water.
This river water dispute, however, turned knotty as 21 NGOs in Goa joined hands to oppose any move by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to make way for Mahadayi project.
These organisations appealed to Mr Parrikar to withdraw his letter to state president B S Yeddyurappa, and decided to launch an awareness campaign in Goa against Mahadayi project from January 6. It has given a call to all elected representatives of Goa, even Taluk Panchayat members, to submit opinions on the project.
Contending that half of the coastal state depended solely on Mahadayi river to help meet drinking water requirements, these organisations felt that a major part of Goa could water scarcity if water was released was Karnataka. At a meeting, the organisations wondered how Mr Parrikar could write to Mr Yeddyurappa without a formal discussion in the Legislative Assembly.
